The Best Video Camera

The $600 Panasonic HC-V770K is the best video camera for those who want a bit more than what their smartphone or even DSLR has to offer. Also referred to as a camcorder, this video camera was proved best after 30 hours of research and testing, which included interviewing experts and shooting hours of video in a huge range of conditions. The HC-V770K captures video that has more detail, better color, and better sound than the footage from all the cameras we tested (or any camera up to twice its price). In our tests, it produced the sharpest footage in bright light, plus it had the best stabilization and the least noise in low light. It also features the best touchscreen controls of the bunch and, with a long 20x optical zoom, you can capture the action from across a huge space—try to do that with a smartphone.

Two years ago:
Canon announced the followup to its R600 with the unsurprisingly named R700 ($300, shipping in February). The R600 was essentially identical to the R500 that preceded it, and the R700 seems extremely similar, too. It appears to have the same design, sensor, and lens as its two predecessors, with the addition of a brighter LCD screen and a new UI. One notable improvement is that the video camera will come bundled with the higher capacity BP-727, which can give you up to an extra 55 minutes of recording time, and goes for $80 on its own. Canon also updated the R70 and R72 along similar lines from the R50/R60, and R52/R62, including built-in storage and connectivity as improvement over the base model. Panasonic announced three new video cameras—the HC-W580, HC-V380, and HC-V180—at CES. But all six have substantially worse sensors than the V770K, so we've added them to the Competition section.

Two years ago:
All of our picks from 2014 were ever-so-slightly updated in 2015 and given new model names, so we updated our guide accordingly throughout. Given that this year's models are essentially identical to their predecessors, we didn't need to do any new testing.

Three years ago:
Updated with Canon, Panasonic, and Sony camcorders announced at CES 2015. See What to Look Forward to for more details.

Three years ago:
We spent 30 hours researching and testing, and we shot hours of video in a huge range of conditions, to find the best camcorder. The $600 Panasonic HC-V750K captures video with more detail, better color, and crisper sound than any other camera we tested (and any camera up to twice its price). It also had the best touchscreen controls, stabilization, and it generated the least image noise in low light.

Four years ago:
We're setting this guide to wait status while we work on researching a new pick.

Four years ago:
Added the ruggedized JVC Everio GZ-R series (starting at $400) to the What to Look Forward to section. They're waterproof to 1 meter, will survive a 5-foot drop, and will work in temperatures above 14 degrees F.

Four years ago:
Added the new version of our budget pick, the Canon VIXIA HF R500, which is a minor upgrade of the R400.

Four years ago:
Updated with Consumer Reports' review of the Sony HDR PJ380.

With a body that’s comfortable enough to hold for hours and zoom, video quality, stabilization, and audio miles beyond a smartphone or DSLR, the Panasonic HC-V770K is the camera for those looking to step up their home video game.

A dedicated device will have vastly better image quality than your phone, and the zoom lens will make it a lot easier to zoom in on what you actually want to record. But what really makes it better than your phone and worth carrying around is its form factor. Unlike a difficult-to-grip phone or a large DSLR, a video camera is actually designed for extended shooting from a variety of angles. If you’re planning on recording something for an extended period of time, like a sporting event or a vacation video—or anything at an odd angle that would otherwise require you to squat or stretch to see the screen, like a baby’s first steps—a video camera with a rotating screen, superior zoom capabilities, quick autofocus, and a high-quality microphone will be a godsend. More on this later.

The Canon Vixia HF R600 is a solid choice that’s less expensive, smaller, and lighter than the Panasonic, but it doesn’t turn out quite as nice video.

If you want a simpler point-and-shoot video experience in a smaller package, the $300 Canon Vixia HF R600 is our runner-up pick. Although the video and audio quality isn’t quite as good as the Panasonic, it’s still light years ahead of a cell phone, and it comes in a compact, easy to use package that will slip into a coat pocket or bag when you aren’t using it. It also captures better quality sound and video than other video cameras.

Last year's model is nearly identical to our current pick. We recommend you go with whichever one you can find for less money.

If you can track one down for cheaper, last year’s Panasonic HC-V750K is essentially identical to the V770K. Excluding some rather minor features you’re probably unlikely to rely on (a new HDR video mode, a switch from mini HDMI to micro HDMI), they’re pretty much the same camera. So if you can find last year’s model for a notably lower price somewhere, then it’s probably worth picking up.

Why you should trust me

I’ve spent more than 20 years reviewing tech such as video cameras at Reviewed.com, PCWorld, and a number of other other fine publications. I designed and revised most of the testing used by Reviewed.com to test products like camcorders, cameras, and a huge range of other technology and appliances.

Suffice to say, if it has buttons on it, I’ve probably reviewed it at some point over the last 20-odd years. This wide-ranging experience has taught me how to figure out not just how tech works, but how tech impacts people’s lives. My experience informs how the features that products offer can become useful (or, more often, not useful) when they get into users’ hands.

Who should get this?

A video camera represents the best of many worlds when it comes to recording video. It’ll give you video quality and a zoom that a smartphone can’t match. It is easier to use and able to record longer footage than other camera types, and it has better built-in sound than a DSLR (more on this later). If you’re planning on shooting a whole day of video, a video camera is designed to be comfortable to hold for extended bouts of filming.

Video cameras hold a particular attraction to parents, especially those with new kids. Every parent wants to save their child’s first words and steps permanently; thanks to the rotating screen, you won’t be forced to bend all the way down to record them.

And the long zoom also means that once they grow up, you can record their onstage or sporting debut from a distance away. So if you want to record all the major events of a childhood and want a device where you can see your child bright and clear, regardless if they’re across the room or the other end of a sporting field, a video camera is the way to go.

Why not a smartphone?

“Hey,” you may say, “why do I need a video camera? I’ve got a cell phone that takes video!” That’s a fair point: for casual shooting a cell phone is fine. But cell phone video is all about limitations: A decent video camera does things that no cell phone or tablet can do.

As anyone who’s attempted to record a performance on their smartphone knows, that’s somewhere your iPhone can falter.

The most obvious of these is the quality, because as anyone who’s attempted to record a performance on their smartphone knows, that’s somewhere your iPhone can falter. A video camera has a lens and sensor that are far, far better than the one in your phone, because both are bigger. The video camera can gather more light, which makes for better quality video when the sun is out and doubly so when things start to dim.

Compression is another part of what makes the footage look good. Cell phones and tablets squish your video down as tight as a lemon in a citrus juicer. With video, once you’ve lost quality by squishing it down, you’ll never get it back. By comparison, camcorders use less compression, which means better quality and the ability to edit the video later. Sure, the less compressed video will take up more space, but with SD cards being very affordable, that’s not a huge worry.

The models we looked at can use memory cards of 32 or 64 GB in size, enough to hold hours of video. Unless you’re packing 128 GB or so, your cell phone or tablet probably won’t have that much available space after accounting for music, apps, movies, and everything else.

The lens on your cell phone is built to fit into the limited size of your phone, which means it can’t zoom. By contrast, the video cameras that we tested offer zooms of up to 57x, which means you can get up close and personal with the action while still being a long way away. While your cell-phone-shooting friends are taking videos of the back of each other’s heads at the school play, you are zooming in on the adorable actor that just happens to be your child.

Of course, a smartphone or tablet is fine for the odd selfie or video—they are easy to carry and shoot with when you need them. But if you want your video to be more than a cute five-second clip on Facebook, a video camera is what you need; modern video cameras are small and light enough that they won’t weigh you down.

Why not use an SLR?

“Ahah!” I hear you cry. “If my cell phone isn’t good enough, why not use a DSLR or mirrorless camera to shoot video?” DSLR and mirrorless cameras are excellent devices for taking photos and video. If you want to do both, then they are a great hybrid option. However, they can involve serious compromises when it comes to audio and video. In particular, dedicated video cameras offer major advantages for sound, focusing, zoom, and clip length.

The microphones on DSLR and mirrorless cameras are often an afterthought, capturing weak sound and often picking up the sound of the camera itself—and some don’t have options for external microphones, either. By contrast, video cameras offer glorious stereo (or better) sound, and some have zoom microphones that work alongside the zoom lenses to pick up sound from a smaller angle in front of the camera as you zoom in. Using a video camera means you’ll actually be able to hear the specific thing that you’re recording, rather than being drowned out in background noise.

Another problem with cameras is that they tend to have issues with focusing while recording: they can only do it slowly. Unless you do what the pros do and pre-focus manually, you are going to get blurry video while the camera see-saws back and forth to lock on focus and struggles to catch up. Video cameras include dedicated focus sensors that work continuously, quickly shifting the focus to adapt as you move the camcorder around.

You also won’t see anything like a video camera’s zoom on an SLR. The kit lens of your camera is probably a 2 or 3 times zoom—and even most expensive telephoto lenses will cap out long before the 20-50x zoom that video cameras offer. Unless you’re right in the midst of the action, the zoom on a video camera will be much more useful than that on a DSLR.

If you’ve ever wanted to record a music recital or a play, a DSLR will leave you hanging, because it won’t be able to record the whole thing. Many cameras can only shoot clips of 10 or 20 minutes, occasionally getting up to 30, after which the image sensor has to cool down. Video cameras can shoot for as long as there is space on the memory card. On a camera like the Canon HF500, that means between two and half hours (at highest quality) and over 12 hours at lowest quality on a 32GB memory card.

But if you’re interested in the more artistic side of filmmaking, where you can use interchangeable lenses and get a narrow depth of field, and you are willing to work around the focusing problems and record video in shorter chunks, a DSLR might be a better bet.

How we picked and tested

Compared to a few years ago, the range of video cameras available to buy has shrunk to all but nothing. With the popularity of cell phones, the manufacturers have cut their selections down, focusing on a few models aimed at those who want more than a cell phone can offer.

That’s the middle ground that we looked for here: video cameras that offer better quality and a wider range of features than smartphones but don’t require that you spend a fortune. Our research revealed that camcorders ranged from $300 up to about $900. Above that are the professional and serious user models that offer features like 4K shooting, but are more complicated than what most people need. Go much cheaper than $300, and you start to lose out on video quality—especially in low light.

To pick our contenders, we first looked for existing reviews. However, we found a scarcity of good information out there; many sites have stopped reviewing video cameras. CNET, for instance, hasn’t reviewed a non-action video camera for over a year (even the JVC Everio GZ-R10 lacks optical stabilization and recording quality) and hasn’t updated their video camera buying guide since 2012. There are still some sites out there that are reviewing these devices, though, such as Reviewed.com, Consumer Reports, and Top Ten Reviews. From this list, we eliminated action cameras (covered separately by Brent Rose here) and products that cost more than about $900. If you are spending that much on a video camera, you are a serious video maker and need a different class of video camera.

Digging through these reviews led us to a shortlist of 10 or so models that fit our criteria. (As an aside, video cameras are rather odd ducks when it comes to how the companies name them. Based on the name, you might assume that the Canon Vixia HF R500 and the Canon Vixia HF R52 are very different products. They aren’t; the only significant difference is that the R52 includes 32GB of built-in memory and a WiFi interface. Otherwise, the two models are identical even sharing the same manual.)

After some discussion, we focused on models that did not include built-in memory. Although built-in memory does have some advantages (it offer lots of capacity, and you can add even more with an SD card), it is more expensive than going without and just recording straight to SD card. We also removed models that had gimmicky extra features, like shooting in two directions at once.

For our hands on testing in 2014, we were left with three contenders: the $310 Canon Vixia HF R500, the $600 Panasonic HC-V750K and the $290 Sony Handycam HDR-CX330. We borrowed or bought these models to put through a series of tests. Since then, both Canon and Panasonic have replaced these units with newer ones, but that are all but identical from what we can tell, except for maybe some minor new shooting settings and a new model number. The Canon Vixia HF R500 was replaced with the Canon VIXIA HF R600, the Panasonic HC-V770K followed the V750K. Both of these models have the same sensor and internals as their predecessors, so we’re comfortable basing their performance on older models.

We designed our tests to discover how well they handle varying shooting conditions. We shot a series of videos in bright daylight, then examined the video to see how accurately the video cameras captured both color and detail. This included still scenes, as well as slow- and fast-moving objects, all of which a good video camera has to capture accurately and with smooth, natural-seeming motion. Blurry video and jerky movements are not a look you want at a ballet recital.

Next, we shot a series of videos in low light, ranging from dim light (such as indoor lighting) down to near total darkness. Again, these videos included both fast- and slow-moving objects, as well as familiar objects and colors to help us judge how well the camera captured the video.

During our 2014 testing, this simple rig allowed us to shoot with all three video cameras at once with similar viewpoints to test audio and video quality, as well as image stabilization.

Finally, we built a simple rig to hold all three camcorders at once and went on a walking tour of Harvard University for direct, head-to-head testing. We did this because it is kind of educational and to see how well the camcorders coped with video taken in my shaky hands. The sample videos below are from this walking tour. The image stabilization system on a good video camera should be able to compensate for this motion, creating video that looks steady when your hands aren’t.

Throughout this, we considered how easy the camera is to use, how well it fits into hands, and what features it offers.

Our pick

The $600 Panasonic HC-V770K has the best video, audio, and stabilization quality out of all the cameras available. We like its clear, bright video in low light, and the audio quality from the built-in microphone (as well as the ability to connect an external microphone). In situations where other camcorders capture grainy video, the V770K’s video is still clean and sharp.

While we performed our testing on last year’s V750K, the V770K is identical barring the smallest changes (like a new HDR mode, some wireless stuff, and a different HDMI port), and should provide an identical experience.

It can also record more than 25 hours of video on a 64GB SDXC (high-capacity) card at high quality based on our testing, and has one of the best and most flexible sets of controls that we’ve seen.

In all of the tests, it was the Panasonic that did the best across the board. It produced the sharpest footage in bright light, […] and it generated the least noise in low light.

In all of the tests, it was the Panasonic that did the best across the board. It produced the sharpest footage in bright light—capturing small details such as grass and tree bark that add realism to a video; it had the best stabilization; and it generated the least noise in low light. It also did the best job capturing motion, producing smooth, clean video that still contained a good level of detail.

Video quality in bright light is one of the easiest tests for a camcorder to pass—when it’s sunny out, capturing detail sharply is a no brainer. But specifically, the Panasonic had deep, saturated colors and sharp detail, so that when you’re recording a birthday party, every color on the piñata will pop and every piece of crêpe paper can be made out.

Once things start to get darker is when the this model really shows its chops. When a camcorder works as hard as possible to grab every little bit of light, this can add a lot of digital noise, which ruins detail and color. Last year’s V750K minimized this the most from the camcorders we tested, and gave the sharpest and clearest video—and since the V770K has an identical sensor, you can expect the same results. Combine that with its excellent stabilization, and you’ll be able to record your third grader’s play handheld, even though lights in the auditorium leave a lot to be desired.

The ability to capture 5.1-channel sound definitely added to the realism of the video. Even when this was mixed down to 2-channel stereo sound (5.1-channel recording is not supported in MP4 recording mode) it had more presence than the other video cameras, with better stereo separation and audio cues to let you know where sounds were coming from. So at that third-grade play, you’ll be recording what’s being said on stage, rather than the murmuring of appreciative audiences around you.

Usability

All three of the contenders are small, compact, comfortable for a long day’s recording, and easy to carry. The days of heavyweight camcorders that are awkward to handle are long gone: today’s models weigh less than a pound and will fit into a large pocket or bag. The physically identical predecessor to Panasonic HC-V770K is the largest we tested—but that’s still not what you’d call huge. At 2.6 by 2.9 by 5.5 inches (about the size of a flashlight) and 13.8 ounces with our battery and SD card, it’ll fit into your coat without any struggling.

There’s a lot of similarity between the control schemes of these video cameras. All put the zoom control under the index finger and the record button under the thumb. They all share the same flip-out-screen-to-turn-on function, which has the video camera up and running in a couple of seconds for candid shooting, so you don’t miss any of the action.

Other buttons and sockets are located under the screen, except on the Sony, which has a small joystick next to the screen as the main way to access to the on-screen menus. The Canon and Panasonic offer touchscreens, with the Panasonic duplicating the physical controls for zoom and record, which makes it easier to hit “go” when you’re shooting from funny angles.

All of these video cameras fit well and are comfortable in the hand, and your fingers fall naturally on to the control buttons and adjustable hand straps for different sized hands. The Panasonic adds a number of extra options, with a dial just behind the screen that you can use to access its manual settings, which some other camcorders lack.This definitely makes it easier to use for more serious shooters who want to get in and control the video capture process themselves.

Those who like to tweak and twiddle settings: if you put the camera into manual mode, you can control features like focus, white balance, shutter speed, iris (aperture), and brightness using either the touch screen or the manual control dial on the front of the camera body. You definitely don’t need to use these, and you can leave your video camera on automatic if you want to keep it easy, but for those who want to learn more about manual controls, the option is there.

The Panasonic offers the widest selection of controls and the best touchscreen interface.

Overall, there is little to choose between these video cameras when it comes to handling. The Panasonic offers the widest selection of controls and the best touchscreen interface. While more sophisticated shooters may favor the extensive manual controls of the Panasonic (and the external audio input, which allows you to connect a better microphone), the price is a bigger, heavier camcorder. But it’s no heavyweight, and it is definitely light enough for a day’s shooting. Canon and Sony both instead opt for smaller bodies, as well as simple and straightforward controls—which some may prefer.

Test results

Video quality

The Panasonic looked more realistic, had more accurate color, and smoother motion.

All of the video cameras produced excellent quality video in bright light, recording full HD at 1080p. They capture 60 frames of video a second, which translates into smoother motion and cleaner looking footage. The Panasonic was by far the best looking of the lot, with deeper, more saturated colors and better detail than the competition. This was the case across the board in most of our tests: the video from the Panasonic looked more realistic, had more accurate color, and smoother motion.

That’s not to say that the Canon or Sony were bad, though. Both produced acceptable video that had smooth motion and good color, although the Sony did have a noticeable loss of detail some of our tests; subtle motion such as moving leaves and shimmering water wasn’t captured well, often turning into a blurry mess.

Low light

When darkness falls, video cameras get scared. Low-light situations means that they have to make the most of every photon, sucking in as much light as possible and amplifying the signal from their image sensors to make it brighter—which can add an ugly speckling pattern to the footage.

Both the Panasonic and the Canon did well in this test, making the most of the available light in full auto mode without boosting the signal too much, with the Panasonic producing the cleanest footage overall. If a video camera amplifies the signal too much, the video becomes noisy and grainy. The Sony didn’t fare so well, producing video that was bright, but distinctly noisy, with a visible and off-putting grain in the footage. Enabling the low-light setting made the video brighter, but also made the noise much more visible.

You may not think that you’ll be doing a lot of nighttime shooting, but it doesn’t take much of a dip in light levels for low-light performance to become important. Recording a birthday party at night, indoors? Or a family dinner? Off trick or treating? Or the ubiquitous school play? In all these cases, you need a video camera that will still deliver smooth motion and clean footage, where you can see all the details of what’s going on around you.

In near total darkness, the Panasonic automatically turns on a small LED light next to the lens. It is pretty weak and produces rather unflattering video that looks like a horror movie gone wrong, so it is best not used unless you have no other choice. At least you can disable it through the on-screen menu. The Panasonic is also the only model to offer a mount for attaching a separate light source—but this doesn’t power the light, which will need its own battery or plug.

We shot this low-light sample video in the transept of the Sanders Theatre in Harvard, which has very low lighting. The video cameras were set to their highest-quality settings, with low-light enhancement modes enabled.

Stabilization

A good stabilization system is crucial unless you plan on shooting from a tripod constantly. It’ll help smooth out hand shake both when you’re standing still, and when you’re in motion—and it becomes even more important when you zoom in, which accentuates even the tiniest of tremors. You need a camera capable of producing footage that looks fluid (but not unnaturally smooth) while you’re zoomed from halfway across a basketball court or when you’re running alongside your kid’s first foray into riding a bicycle.

For this sample video, the video cameras were set to their highest-quality video mode, with stabilization enabled and set to the default setting.

The Panasonic was the clear winner in our tests of image stabilization, with the Hybrid O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilization) system of the V750K doing the best job of correcting for the random movements of a shaky hand without much over-correction. If you look at our sample video, you can see this in action: the center strip is the Panasonic, and it has a much smoother and sharper look. The Canon is also good, though, with smooth video and only a few minor glitches, but it lacks the more solid look of the Panasonic. The Sony is the worst, with a perceptible (and rather off-putting) jitter to the video. In this demo, all the cameras were in full auto mode. (Note: we took multiple videos with the camcorders in different spots on our test stand and saw the same effect.)

Sound

Video is only half the story: the rest comes from the sound that accompanies it. A video camera’s weak point is often audio, but these models show that there has been some improvement in recent years.

All the camcorders recorded acceptable sound, but the best by far was the V770K’s predecessor, the functionally identical V750K. With excellent stereo separation and a good balance between the subject and the ambient noise, it gave the strongest feeling of being in the middle of the action. It also has the neat trick of zooming the microphone as you zoom the lens, focusing in on the subject and lowering the surrounding sound. It works well and can make someone’s voice more audible in a crowd, separating it from the background noise. Panasonic labels this as a “5.1ch” microphone, and the camcorder can capture dolby digital 5.1-channel sound and the more standard 2-channel stereo sound.

The Canon also captured decent stereo sound, but picked up much more of the ambient noise, which sometimes overwhelmed the subject. This effect was even more extreme in the Sony, which was much more sensitive to noise such as aeroplanes flying overhead.

No on-camcorder microphone can do miracles, though, and if you want to upgrade, the Panasonic is the only one of the cameras we tested that offers both a microphone input and a place to put it—the Canon only had the former, and the Sony neither.

Wi-Fi

The V770K also includes a Wi-Fi interface, which allows it to connect to a cell phone or tablet as well as a standard Wi-Fi network. The free app for iOS and Android can remotely control the camera with a live preview. From here you can zoom in and out and stop/start recordings, but the more complex manual controls are not available. When connected to a Wi-Fi network, the V770K appears as a DLNA device, so any compatible computer (Windows or Mac) or device, like a Roku, can play back video from the memory card. Wi-Fi can’t be used to transfer the original recordings to a PC or Mac. It can, however, be used to livestream video to Ustream, a neat feature for things like family events that someone can’t get to.

Slow motion

The Panasonic also has a cute (but rather gimmicky) slow motion mode. Press the SLOW button on the touch screen, and the video is captured at 120 frames per second, which is then doubled up to look like 240 fps. When you play it back, this gives the effect of slowing time to one quarter of normal speed at the same resolution as the standard speed video without sound. It’s a neat trick, but you can’t tweak the speed of the video, and the captured video is rather soft, thanks to the camera’s trick of doubling the frame rate by making up frames in between the captured ones.

Battery life

We found that the battery life of the V750K was adequate, with the included 1940 mAh battery lasting for about 1 hour and 55 minutes of continuous shooting—and since the V770K has the same battery and power setup, its performance should be the same. That compares well with the other models we looked at, both of which lasted just over two hours on a full battery.

What others think

We aren’t the only ones who rated the Panasonic as a top pick. Reviewed.com gave the Panasonic HC-W850 (which is identical to the HC-V770K but from last year with a second, rear-facing camera that lets you record your own face while you shoot normally through the front camera) a rating of 9.1 out of 10, putting it in third place in their camcorder chart.

The two models above it both cost more than twice as much as the W850, so that’s a considerable feat. TJ Donegan of Reviewed.com describes the W850 as a “successful camcorder that nails the core camcorder features while also giving shooters the option of expanding the experience”. He does note some quirks, though: the lack of a 24 frames per second shooting mode and the unpowered hot shoe are his main complaints.

Consumer Reports also gives the nearly identical model from last year, the V750K, high praise, citing its excellent image quality and low-light video. It comes sixth on their chart, but all of the models above it cost over a thousand dollars, which we consider to be prohibitively expensive. (If you want a camera that costs that much, you are probably not the target audience for this guide.) They do note that it is “larger and heavier than most in its class,” though.

Last year’s model

Last year's model is nearly identical to our current pick. We recommend you go with whichever one you can find for less money.

Our current pick, the Panasonic V750K, and the current pick, the V770K, are essentially identical cameras. They have identical specs, the same sensor, the same lens, the whole nine yards. So whichever one you can get for a lower cost is the one you should get. So what exactly is the difference between the two? According to the specifications, the V750K has a mini-HDMI port, where the V770K has a micro-HDMI. And then Panasonic told us that these shooting features had been added to the V770K: “Motion HDR function which reduces the overexposure and underexposure to produce video with wider dynamic range. Record beautiful video even in high contrast scene. Picture quality in low light has been improved.”

All told, it’s the definition of a minor update, and one that’s so small that we feel comfortable saying that the cameras are pretty much identical. So much so, that the performance and handling from one model carries over to the other. So buy whichever one is more affordable.

The runner-up

The Canon Vixia HF R600 is a solid choice that’s less expensive, smaller, and lighter than the Panasonic, but it doesn’t turn out quite as nice video.

The $600 Panasonic V770K is a complex camcorder and offers features that many users may not want or need. For those who want to be able to capture decent video without fuss (and for substantially less cash), they should look to the $300 Canon Vixia HF R600 or its predecessor the R500. It’s not quite on the same level as the Panasonic in any of sharpness, color, image stabilization, or low-light performance, but it’s simple to use, with a touchscreen interface that doesn’t overwhelm the user, as well as an impressive 32x optical zoom.

As with the Panasonic, the difference between this year’s R600 and last year’s R500 are so minor that even Canon wasn’t entirely sure what they are. After enquiring with the company multiple times, we were told the R600 has a new battery pack—even though the officialspecifications list them as having exactly the same battery. Other than that, they’ll handle exactly the same. So again, get whichever is more affordable on the day.

Stick this camcorder in auto mode, and it will choose the best settings for capturing video well in many situations, including low-light shooting and fast-moving action. It’s also smaller and lighter than the Panasonic—a considerable plus for something that you will be carrying around all day.

There are some rough edges, though. The daylight video had flatter colors and less detail compared to the Panasonic. When in low light, the gap between the two widened: the Canon’s footage was downright dull, with significant noise and obscured details. The Canon does have a low-light scene mode that improves sharpness somewhat at the cost of a slow shutter speed. This leads to blurry motion: pan the camera, and the entire scene becomes a smeared mess. While worse than the Panasonic, the Canon did outperformed the Sony HDR-CX330, which had even more visible and distracting noise, as well as an inferior stabilization system that lead to footage that looked less natural.

The front-facing microphones of the Canon capture decent sound, but there is little stereo separation to produce a more immersive feel. These things aside, the Vixia HF R500 produces clean, attractive video that looks and sounds miles better than what you would get from a smartphone.

What to look forward to

4K is the new kid on the camcorder block, which quadruples the resolution of HD video to produce a much higher resolution image at 4096 or 3840 pixels wide and 2160 tall. There are a few consumer models available that can shoot 4K video, like the $2,000 Sony FDR-AX100 and the $1,700 Panasonic DMC-GH4K mirrorless camera. However, we didn’t include these in our roundup for two simple reasons: they’re extremely expensive, and they aren’t practical for consumers. Shooting, editing and viewing 4K video requires a complete revamp of how you capture, edit and view video, including buying a faster computer to edit on and buying another TV or monitor to watch it with. That just isn’t practical for most home video makers at the moment, so we think that, until 4K becomes more mainstream, you should stick with HD models.

Canon announced the followup to its R600 with the unsurprisingly named R700 ($300, shipping in February). The R600 was essentially identical to the R500 that preceded it, and the R700 seems extremely similar, too. It appears to have the same design, sensor, and lens as its two predecessors, with the addition of a brighter LCD screen and a new UI. One notable improvement is that the video camera will come bundled with the higher capacity BP-727, which can give you up to an extra 55 minutes of recording time, and goes for $80 on its own. Canon also updated the R70 and R72 along similar lines from the R50/R60, and R52/R62, including built-in storage and connectivity as improvement over the base model.

While in our last round of reviewing we were less than impressed by Sony’s offerings, they announced two new camcorders at CES that look more promising. The $550 HDR-CX675 and $400 HDR-CX455 both look interesting, and the CX675 takes features from a higher end camera with a built-in projector, and strips away that rather useless add-on. However, the sensors are still notably smaller than the Panasonic’s, which doesn’t make us too hopeful.

Competition

Of the three models that we spent hands on time with, it was the Sony HDR-CX330 that came last. It produced decent quality video and was smaller and lighter than the Canon and Panasonic models, but the joystick control was awkward to use, the video stabilization was not as effective, and the audio quality wasn’t as good as the other models.

We were able to cut the Canon R62, RF52, R60 and R50 based on them being all but identical to the R500 except costing more for having built-in storage, and in the case of the the latter two, Wi-Fi.When you can pick up a 32GB SD card for under $20, the $100 extra cost just doesn’t make sense: it is cheaper to buy the no-memory model and a handful of SD cards. This same logic also eliminated models like the now-discontinued $850 Sony HDR-PJ430V and HDR-CX290, and the HDR-PJ380, all of which had cheaper variants without built-in memory.

Sony likewise unveiled five cameras, again covering the entire gamut of the market, from $230 all the way up to $1,000. There’s the $230 CX405 with a 30x zoom and optical stabilization; the $300 CX440 and $400 PJ440 that add Wi-Fi, 8GB internal memory, and the ability to stream video to the specs of last year’s CX405—and the PJ440 has a built-in projector, too. The PJ670 will set you back $700, bumps up the internal memory to 32GB, has a larger, higher-resolution screen, an even better stabilization system, and a hot-shoe and input jack for microphones. However, all of these pack the same sensor as the one we saw in the CX330, which didn’t perform as well as those from Panasonic or Canon. Plus the replacement CX440 doesn’t seem to have done anything that would fix our problems with last year’s models.We also discounted Sony models that included pico projectors. While neat (and being able to show a video right after shooting is fun), the projector feature adds to the cost, typically pushing the price up by about $70. That removed models like the $400 Sony HDR PJ-275B, which is the projector-packing equivalent of the CX330 that we tested.

Wrapping it up

For anyone who wants to capture better quality and more useful video of their family and friends, the way to go is the $600 Panasonic HC-V770K. Its 20x zoom, top-of-the-line stabilization, excellent sharpness, and deep, saturated colors put it not just miles beyond a smartphone, but also beyond other camcorders. Regardless if you’re recording in a dimly-lit auditorium, at a frantic birthday party, or across a sports field, the V770K will snag bright colors and steady footage, even in low lights. It also has extensive manual controls for if you want to take of the training wheels, and while bigger than some of the competition, is still small and light enough to use for an extended day of shooting.

If you want a simpler point-and-shoot video experience in a smaller package, the $300 Canon Vixia HF R600 is our step-down pick (or last year’s slightly cheaper R500). While its audio and video aren’t up to the high caliber of the Panasonic, at half the price it’s smaller, incredibly easy to use, still miles beyond a smartphone, and can fit into a coat pocket or bag when you’re done.

Richard Baguley has been writing about, testing and breaking technology for nearly 20 years. He is an expert in designing and implementing testing protocols, and creating new and innovative ways to interpret and display this data. He has written for publications including PCWorld, Wired, MacWorld, USA Today, Amiga Format, Internet Magazine and many others.

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